“It’s borderline unnerving how fast Strata hops broke through from obscure experimental hop to absolute stalwart of all variations of IPA. This hop can do it all, and in Space Maze it plays the perfect juice-maker. Dropping juicy hits like it’s name is Biggie, Strata lays down massive notes of strawberry astronaut ice cream, passionfruit curd, fresh smashed raspberries, riesling grapes, sugared grapefruit wedges, mango puree, lime zest, papaya, and the stickiest of the ickiest weed. With minimal bitterness and a sticky sweet mouthfeel, Space Maze is equal parts razzmatazz smoothie and nouveau IPA.”

Glassware: IPA.

Appearance: It was pouring a nice amber orange with moderate haze until a bunch of sediment screwed it all up. It’s one of our biggest gripes with Hazy’s. Anywho, it forms a creamy half-inch head which leaves magnificent lacing on the glass.

Aroma: Pretty tame for a Fieldwork IPA. The scent it’s giving off is decent though – mildly sweet, tropical, juicy, kinda resinous and piney. Definitely getting sweet orange citrus, tangerine, ruby grapefruit, subtle stone fruits and your typical American two-row qualities i.e delicate sweetness, nutty, grainy/husky. Not bad.

Flavour: Somewhat follows on with this certain sweetness it carries. Maybe it’s just a mixture of the tropical fruity hops and the sweeter malt bill? It’s probably also emphasised by the fact that the sweeter fruits from the hops dominate – orange, peach, pineapple, melon. The grainy/husky malts underlining it all as it finishes rather smooth and dry.

Mouthfeel: Well rounded, silky, a fine sparkly carbonation. Medium body and the 7% ABV is pretty well concealed.

Overall: Not totally blown away by it but it’s a tidy and well structured Hazy. A fine example of what the Strata hop can offer.